


Carnelian's Hair Ribbon

by PhantomPhan16, VicenteValtieri



Series: Role Play Fanfiction [14]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Custody Issues, Family Drama, M/M, Sad, Starscream basically becomes Tony Stark minus the funsies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2019-03-28 11:08:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13902750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantomPhan16/pseuds/PhantomPhan16, https://archiveofourown.org/users/VicenteValtieri/pseuds/VicenteValtieri
Summary: Starscream and Optimus never expected that they might be called upon to raise an actual human child, but when they're pulled from the war into the more treacherous world of Carnelian's bedroom, they make a pact. They will take care of this child together, but when Carnelian is rescued and all three of them are placed with Firmus Piett and Maximilian Veers - who are eager to be parents in their own right - their vow comes under strain...





	Carnelian's Hair Ribbon

Carnelian peeped out of her room. She was bored, and lonely, and her older brothers were in their bedroom, playing.

Creeping out, she peeked her head in next to a pile of old and rejected toys.  
"What do you want, Carface?"

"Pway," she said softly.

"Well, we're playing with legos." They were in the midst of constructing a model of the Imperial Senate. "So go away."  
Fred took a bit of pity on her. "...You can have some of those toys you're next to."

She looked down at the toys. “Tank you."

"Yeah, yeah... Just don't make too much noise." They bent back to their work and she began picking through the pile.

She selected the two in the best shapre, Starscream and Optimus Prime. Optimus was missing his little headfins, and Starscream was cracked on the chest and middle.

Going back to her room, she sat them down on her pillow and looked at them. What could she do with them?

She really just wanted someone who would talk to her and play with her.

Sighing, she laid back against the pillow and hugged them to her chest. Closing her eyes, she went to sleep.

She woke to new voices, chattering away like they were arguing."

"Where the Pit have you landed us this time?! I swear, this is the last time I go anywhere with an Autobot..." One of the voices was high pitched and screeching.  
"I didn't do this on purpose." A lower voice rumbled. "I'm not even sure where we are. It feels like we're under a tarp, but this is one massive tarp." Two lumps were moving around her bed.

She sat up and slowly pulled back the blanket.

Two Cybertronians stared up at her with optics blown wide. "...AAAAAHHHH! MONSTER!"

"... Not monser," she said softly. Of course even these things wouldn't like her.

"Starscream, shut up! She's just a little girl." Optimus cuffed the Seeker. "...It's okay, sweetie. He was just surprised, all right?"

He moved closer to Carnelian. "What's your name, honey?"

"Car - Knee - Lee - Ann." Carnelian held out each sound as she made it, looking down at the small mech.  
"...Primus, she's young." Starscream muttered, drawing closer.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious. My name is Optimus, and this is Starscream. It's nice to meet you."

Carnelian held out a delicate hand and they shook gently.

Optimus and Starscream took in her small, thin frame and looked at each other.

Starscream took the hand and examined it, noting the fragility of the bones, the thickness of the flesh and followed it back to the wrist where he found her pulse. "...You're a fragile one, aren't you?"

"Fagile?" Optimus gave a weak smile. "It means you hurt easily."

"Oh. Faw down a wot."

 

"Awww, that's never fun," the Prime crooned.

At that moment, the door began to open and Starscream and Optimus ducked into hiding beneath the blankets again.  
"...Dinnertime." The woman in the door had a strained smile on her face and a tray in one hand.

"Tank you," the little girl said.

"Here. Just put the dishes outside when you're done." The strained smile remained as she gingerly set the tray down next to her and patted her head once.

Once she left Optimus and Starscream crawled out from under the blankets.

"...This isn't nearly enough." Starscream frowned down at the serving. "...And it's not chopped enough for her."

 

Optimus scowled and attacked her food with her fork to cut it up more for her.

Starscream mashed the peas and carrots with the back of the spoon while Carnelian drank her milk, watching them.

"There. Here, sweetie, chew it good," Optimus said.

Carnelian fisted her fork and began eating the chicken with care.

They kept a close and careful watch on her as she ate, fuming at how little she was given.

Afterwards, she fell asleep again and they sat on the foot of the bed to confer. "...We can't leave her." Optimus stated solidly.  
"We don't know where we are. We can't make ourselves responsible for a child, no matter how abominably she's treated." Starscream pointed out. "We're a quarter of her size, Optimus!"

"You don't have to then, Starscream, but I'm going to do everything I can for her."

"This isn't our home, Optimus. We have to try and find our way back, and when we do, what's going to happen to her? Imagine how massive she'd be on Cyberton! Or how tiny... It would be impossible either way!"

"Starscream, that's not important anymore. I can't just leave her to this fate. If I can't help her then I'll do whatever it takes to find someone who can."

"...Ugh. You and your bull-helm and are going to break your own spark for you!" Starscream rapped the top his helm with his knuckles. "But I'm not going anywhere without you, so I guess we're both in this."

"Thank you. There has to be SOMETHING we can do."

"We can start by finding her more food to eat. No wonder she's sleeping so much: She probably doesn't have the energy to do much else."

Optimus nodded. "We'll sneak around tonight when everyone is asleep and learn the layout."

"Agreed." Starscream looked around. "And some kind of research tool. Something we can use to learn about the world we're in."

Optimus nodded. "We'll have be fast and careful. Who knows what would happen if we were spotted.

"Agreed." Starscream nodded and they approached the door. "...I think we can slip under."

They dropped down, and with wiggling and strained, popped out from underneath it.

"...We need to find a better way." Starscream panted softly.

Optimus stretched his frame. "Yeah."

"All right. All's quiet." They began exploring down the hall.

They moved quickly and quietly, mentally mapping everything.

"Washracks here." Starscream muttered, peeking into the room.  
"Another bedroom here. It's empty, though."

"Maybe a guest room.""Probably." They moved on into the living room."

"Television... books... flowers..." Starscream muttered. "Nothing helpful."  
"This is a crafts room." Optimus poked his head into it. "Sewing machine, thread... Might be useful."

"Right now we need food." The Prime's tank rumbled. "Right, for her and us it seems."

"We're in luck then. I found the kitchen." Starscream looked around it. "...We probably won't be able to get the fridge open without some leverage."

Optimus began searching for something to help them.

"...Hey, it's a vintage style one. If we can pull down the handle with a weight, it should swing open." He spotted a ball of twine. "Maybe there are some washers somewhere?"

They scurried about, searching with renewed hope... and hunger.

Eventually, they strung about a dozen heavy washers together and managed to open the fridge.

Inside was a cornucopia of food and drinks."Take a little of everything but not enough to be noticed."

After helping themselves to some tuna salad, they gathered a chicken leg, two slices of salami, a handful of berries, a small tub of applesauce, more of the vegetables, and more milk in a sippy cup with unicorns on it.

Slicing from a loaf of bread was... difficult to say the least.

Still they managed and lugged their spoils back to Carnelian's room and then had to work out how to open the door.

They took the breadknife and used it like a lumber saw, pushing it back and forth.  
Eventually, Starscream flew up and dropped onto the handle with all his weight, managing to get it to swing open.

They brought the food in, then both gripped the bottom of the door and hauled it shut with much straining and binary cursing.

"This is going to be harder than we thought." Optimus looked up at the clock and found that it had been an hour since they started their expedition. "Let's get this out of sight and have some recharge."

Starscream's response was a loud, long yawn.

They put the food into a box and hid it for her breakfast.

They tucked away in a corner and fell asleep, waking up in a ball of tangled limbs from moving in the night. "This got awkward fast."

"Shut up and get off me." Starscream pushed him. "What time is it?"

Optimus shook himself and looked at the clock. "Eight thirty."

A bowl of porridge had been left on the table while they were asleep. Starscream inspected it. "...It's gruel. All refined wheats... no protein or vitamins. Berries and Salami shouldn't be amiss."

"Add the berries to the porridge," Optimus suggested.

"Agreed." Starscream mashed each berry before dropping it into the gruel and he set the sippy cup of milk beside the one of orange juice on the tray. "I wish we could warm the Salami somehow. This would be a lot easier if we could cook in here."

"I know what you mean. We should eat and then wake her."

They shared a slice of the Salami and the berry apiece and then Starscream gently patted Carnelian awake.

"Carnelian? Time to wake up and eat, sweetie."

She slowly opened her eyes and yawned.

Starscream sniffed her breath. "...And to clean those teeth. Poor thing."

Optimus chuckled. "Oh shut up."

Carnelian seemed confused at having two sippy cups that morning, but she obligingly ate everything. "...Lami's cold." She told Starscream when he encouraged her to eat the slices.

"I know, dear, but we can't heat it up." "It okay."

After breakfast, Starscream checked to see if the coast was clear. "Okay. Let's get her into the bathroom. I'll get her something to wear." She hadn't changed out of her pink nightgown since they had seen her.

It was a whirlwind of Optimus leading Carnelian into the bathroom as quickly as possible and then sitting down with a toothbrush. His attempt to put toothpaste on it resulted in toothpaste on the brush... but also on him as it came out faster than he'd anticipated.

Carnelian giggled as he tried to wipe it off. Starscream came in dragging a pair of pants and a small shirt behind him. "...Oh, Primus, Optimus... How do you do these things to yourself?"

"I don't know anymore." He helped Carnelian brush her teeth then rinsed himself off with the toothbrush as Starscream tried to help her dress.

"All right. Left arm through this sleeve... Right arm here... Oh, no." The Seeker sighed as Carnelian's head and arm came out the same hole.

"Your arm comes down and out this hole, baby."

Carnelian pulled the arm back in and stuck it through the sleeve. Now the shirt was on backwards.

"Pull your arms in." She obeyed, and Starscream turned the shirt around. "Now put them back through. There we go."

"Tank you." Carnelian pulled up her stretchy pants and yawned. "...Tired."  
Optimus leaned over the sink. "Before we go back to bed, can you do something for me, Carnelian?"

"What?"

"A special dance! It will help you get strong." He encouraged.

"Oh. Otay."

They went back to Carnelian's bedroom while Starscream delivered the nightgown to the laundry basket. Optimus and Carnelian "danced" through some basic exercises.

They had finished, and Carnelian was back in bed when Starscream returned. "That was close." "Were you seen?" "No, but I was almost stepped on."

"Well, so long as you're safe."  
"Yeah. I learned some things too. It's Sunday, which means tomorrow we'll have the house pretty much to ourselves."

"Perfect. We can really explore then." "Exactly."

"Hopefully we can figure out some more permanent solutions for this, and find a datapad we can borrow without it being too suspicious."

Starscream nodded. "Lets hope. We can't stay here,... and we can't leave Carnelian here."

"...Maybe if the planet's a warm one, we can find a place to keep her in the wilds."

"There's a window up there. We should look." Nothing prepared them for the endless stretch of city.

"...I don't think there are wilds on this planet, Optimus." Starscream stared. "And I won't have our child living on the streets like a beggar."

 

"I... our child?"

"What?" Starscream's wings flicked. "Don't read too much into it. I'd go back to Cybertron in a sparkbeat, but... Well, for as long as we're here..."

He nodded. "Agreed. For now we do all we can."

They cared for Carnelian through the rest of the day and helped her into a clean nightie that evening. The little girl's wardrobe was limited to say the least, but it would do for now.

The next day they set to exploring properly and searching for a computer or datapad that wouldn't be missed.

One of the boys had dropped a datapad behind a chest of drawers. Starscream dragged it under Carnelian's bed, where he and Optimus were setting up a hidey hole to hide any contraband and for themselves to have a bit of space for their own. Carnelian - true to form - slept most of the day, but Starscream managed to coax her into eating two bowls of soup for lunch. Making soup... Now that had been an adventure.

It had been canned soup, and it had taken both of them climbing and flying up the cupboards to lift it to just to the counter. They stared at it. "How do we open it?"

"...Don't humans have machines for this? I saw one in a cartoon." Starscream questioned, looking around the counter.  
"Yes, but handheld ones are far more common." Optimus explained.

"Over there!" the Seeker said, pointing to an electric can opener.

But an electric can opener had its own challenges. They rolled the can of soup over to its base and set it up. "...How do we work it?" Starscream studied the mechanics.

Optimus scaled the machine and discovered by accident when he stepped on the button with the blade. His weight pushed it down, and the can opener immediately started up,

Starscream squawked as the electromagnet turned on and pulled him flush against the holder. "NO! NO! NO!" He screamed, tucking himself into a ball.

Mercifully it turned off once the can was open, and the Seeker flopped to the counter.

"That was... terrifying." Starscream shook himself. "...A little warning next time."

"Sorry. It was an accident."

"It's all right. Let's get this stuff heated."

That was a whole can of worms.

"Can we heat it in the can?"  
"No, it has to be diluted first."  
"But then we have to find a way to lift a whole pot. The can was hard enough."

They looked at each other and sighed before setting to work searching for a bowl or pan.

"How about this?" Optimus pushed a coffee can out of the recycling bin. "It's metal, and light."  
"It's kind of small... But it should be big enough." Starscream looked it over.

"We shouldn't put this on the stove, though." "The Microwave then."

"Metal, Optimus."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

Starscream thought. "...We'll have to try the can on the stove. It's aluminum. None of this is plastic or sealant. It should work."

"Okay. Lets give it a try." Mixing the required water with the soup they worked it onto a burner.

It went well. The sides were very tall, but Starscream seemed pleased. They couldn't get the soup up the stairs though. They had to get Carnelian down them to the soup.

Optimus waited as Starscream coaxed the girl out to the dining room.

She climbed into the chair and sat. Her nose was below the table.

The two Transformers fixed this by bringing some some pillows over and using them to boost her up.

It had been a lot of work, but when she was finally full, all three flopped down on the couch for a well-deserved rest.

They napped for a good while before Starscream and Optimus hurried to clean up any signs of lunch.

After they had finished loading the dishes among the ones from breakfast in the washer and wiping the inevitable spill off the counter, Starscream took the coffee can to the garage and cut off some of the top. "This might come in handy." He explained, tapping the solid bottom.

"Good thinking."

"Thank you." They spent the rest of the day exploring the house and the night researching the care of human children.

There was so much and so many different opinions and ways to do things. "How can we do this? We need to... we need to find help, someone who will love her and raise her properly." "How?" "I don't know, but she can't stay here."

"CPS?" Optimus suggested, looking up their number.  
"Then she'd go into the Foster system! Who knows where she'd end up!"

"We can't just do nothing either!"

"We're not doing nothing!" Starscream breathed in and out several times to calm himself. "We've been here two days: So far, so good. It can only get better from here."

"I hope you're right."

"I hope so too." Starscream admitted. The next day, he wanted to give Carnelian a bath and comb her hair.

Here she resisted him, not wanting him near with the comb.

"It won't hurt baby." Starscream coaxed. "Pretty please? You'll look so pretty, princess."

"No!" Optimus came over. "Carnelian, you know Starscream wouldn't hurt you right? Do you want to hold my servo, baby?"

Carnelian sniffed and picked the Convoy up, holding him like a teddy bear. She was slightly damp from the bath and dressed in her soft, pink nightclothes today.

"Or hold me. That works too." Starscream began gently combing out her hair.

He started at the roots and worked his way up, gently untangling the mats when he found them. "There? See? Not so bad." He cooed, settling on top of her head to work.

She stayed quiet as he worked, holding Optimus.

Finally, Starscream looped a piece of ribbon around her ponytail and tied it. "There. See? Pretty as a Princess."

She looked at her reflection. "Pwetty."

"Yes, you're pretty!" Starscream cooed, snuggling her.

This quickly became routine, letting her hair go just long enough that anyone who brought her food didn't suspect before neatening it again, and sneaking her food whenever possible.

As their routine became more established and it was easier for the Cybertronians to manage Carnelian, Starscream began going out. Taking care not to be seen, he learned more and more about the world and sometimes his discoveries were useful. Like the windowboxes.

This was extremely useful for him and Optimus to hide stuff in, including themselves on occasion.

Starscream began sneaking dirt from other windowboxes into their own as well, creating a garden. "There's no nature on this planet." He complained. "How is she supposed to expand her imagination without frolicking?"

"Being allowed to play and be a child," Optimus said, growling at how it was denied her.

"If we can just get her out of bed and playing." Starscream and Optimus continued to help her "dance" but it was slow going.

"I know but she's still so weak."

"She has to move to get stronger!"

"We're working on it, Starscream, but it doesn't happen over night."

Starscream was shaking slightly as he began to unravel at the edges. Caring for Carnelian was stressful, for both of them, and the Seeker's Carrier coding was not helping him cope.

Optimus was having the same problem. Also a Carrier the Prime did his best to hide his struggle but it was getting harder.

"...If only we had someone we could trust her to for one day so we could rest." Starscream rubbed his optics with the heels of his servos.

"We ned to get out and make an ally."

"Agreed. But where would we look?"

"I don't know, but we have to try. Or at least, you do. You can go unseen and fly."

"...You're right. I'll do my best."

"Go on. You need a break from here anyway."

"All right. Look out for her, okay?" Starscream went to the window. Tiny radishes and peas were sprouting in the garden.

"You know I will."

"I do." Starscream nodded. And wasn't that odd? When had they started trusting each other?

He shook himself and flew off.

Coruscant's traffic lanes made for exciting flying. Starscream dodged and twirled through them with ease, searching the walking lanes below. He wasn't sure what he was looking for.

It was completely unexpected when he flew into an open into and into what felt like a wall. A... noisy wall... with... leather?

He looked up slowly. "...Uhh... Hi?"

The person, if they could be called that, was in a black body with a control panel on the chest, some armor over the shoulder, and a skull-like mask that made loud, cold, forced, mechanical breathing. They pulled out of the skylane to land in a huge building. "What are you?" rumbled a deep baritone from the mask.

"...A Seeker. And much more dangerous than I look, so don't try to hurt me!" Starscream puffed his armor up.

"You are brave, little one, and foolish to threaten to me. I have killed much more dangerous than you with little effort. However, I will not harm you. Where are you from?"

"A place called Cybertron, but we're living with someone else. I have to get back. This has been lovely, but I don't think we should call." He dove for the window.

He was caught gently but firmly by the scruff. "Calm yourself, little one. Your thoughts are open. You worry for someone... a child. Who?"

"...Her name is Carnelian..." Starscream finally admitted. "...And she's mine. I don't care if she has parents. They're not good to her."

"Explain."

"They're not taking care of her. Something was wrong when she was born - I've found out that much - and her mother can't stand to be around her now. She's weak and tired, but we're taking care of her. She's getting better."

"And how did you come to her?"

"I don't know." Starscream admitted. "We just woke up here and there she was."

"Hmm. Very well. How is your memory?"

"That depends on what you want me to remember."

"A number. Mine, send me information, and I will work on getting the child away from there and to people who will properly take care of her."

"Information... pictures?" Starscream pouted. "I can, but... You have to promise we won't be seperated!"

"Don't worry, the people I have in mind will love you just as much as her."

"All right. Then I'll do it." Starscream agreed and Vader set him down.

"Good. For now, no more names beyond hers." Starscream nodded. "Just in case."

"Go. Send me the evidence." Vader gave him his number.

"I will." He hurried back and quietly told Optimus.

Optimus nodded. "All right. How should we do this?"

"Send him pictures, messages, anything showing and telling how it is for her, how they treat her."

"We'll have to keep our optics out then. It's almost dinner time."

Starscream nodded. "Right."

They took pictures of the portion size before they supplemented the food as best they could and sent them off.

Slowly they fell into a new routine of sending images and detailed messages to their mysterious ally. They wondered who was until one day all shows were overwritten with the Empire Day celebration, the anniversary of the founding of the Empire. An old man in a black hood and robe was speaking, but just behind him was their ally, who the capture card titled at 'Lord Vader'. He towered over most around him and radiated power, authority, and danger.

"...That's him, Optimus." Starscream pointed.  
"It is." Optimus nodded, looking down from where he was turning over a few pea pods. Starscream had made a stovetop to put over the lightbulb in Carnelian's lamp.

"It seems we have a powerful ally. Good." By now it had been a few months since their arrival. Carnelian was still weak, but slowly, ever so slowly, she was growing stronger and more aware, though it was still hard to get her three decent meals, and they took care not to overfeed her at a single meal. That would be unhealthy for her too.

Eventually, she could go for the whole day with only a brief nap.

Her poor excuse of a mother noticed the difference, however.

"...You're getting strong." She commented one day when she brought lunch and found Carnelian dancing carefully alone in her room.

"... Yes," the child replied a little uncertainly.

"That's... good. Remember to stay in your room and not bother me."

"Otay,"

"All right. Good girl."

Starscream and Optimus growled once she left.

"She's a terrible woman." Starscream sighed as he rejoined Carnelian in her dancing.

"She is, but hopefully we'll soon be away. It's been months since we started sending evidence to you-know-who."

"Agreed." Starscream hummed softly. "...I'm going to miss this, though. Just the three of us."

"I know, but it will be better for all of us, and think of the help we'll have."

"Yeah." Starscream nodded. "And she'll always be ours."

It was evening when they heard yelling downstairs, the woman was screeching something they couldn't quite make out. Then door opened, and Vader stepped in.

Starscream and Optimus stood up and Carnelian shrank back into a corner.

Starscream flew to her. "It's okay, sweetie. He's going to help us."

Carnelian hugged him close. "...He's scary."

"I know, baby, but he's a friend." Vader held out a hand. "Come, little one. It is time to leave this bad place and bad people."

"...Okay..." She didn't take his hand, but she stood up and Optimus walked beside her.

Vader led her out and to a speeder, where the Transformers buckled her into the backseat. The Sith's personal hangar bay was large and filled with different ships and speeders, and two men were waiting.

Carnelian didn't want to go towards them.

The shorter man approached slowly with a gentle smile. "Hello, sweetheart. I like your hair bow."

"...Tank you." She replied. "...Carry made it."

"Carry?"

She nodded and Starscream spoke up. "She means me." He wiggled onto her shoulder and planet himself there. "I'm her Carrier."

"This will be best discussed inside," Vader rumbled. The man nodded. "Right." He offered a hand to Carnelian. "Are you hungry, sweetheart?"

"No."  
"We just ate." Optimus explained.  
"But Carnelian should probably have a little more than what we could get her."

"I made some beef stew. Does that sound good?"

"It does, but the meat needs to be very fine." Starscream warned.

"It's small pieces, don't worry. I'm not new to children." The tall man chuckled. "You have, what?, ten nieces and nephews back home?" "

"Eleven now." "Oh right."

They seemed perfect. It was setting Starscream's wings on edge.  
Optimus, though, looked as relaxed as Starscream had ever seen him.

"Well, my name is Firmus, and this is my husband, Max."

"I'm Starscream." Starscream explained. "Carnelian's Carrier - which is like a Mother for you."

"Ah, now I see. It'll be nice to have someone else who has a maternal streak," Firmus said with a smile.

"Of course."  
"And I'm Optimus Prime. Carnelian's Creator." Optimus told them. "Tell the nice men your name, dear."

"Car. Knee. Lee. Ann." Max came forward with a warm smile, and Starscream could just tell he was experienced as well. "Good job, little gem. That's a very pretty name. Would you like me to carry you inside?"

"...No." She looked up at him and down at Starscream and Optimus. Then, she picked the two mechs up. "I Cawy." She walked past him.

Max chuckled. "Okay, but it's a long walk." Firmus smiled and led the way to a small, private dining room, the stew sat on a warmer with the table set.

Carnelian was exhausted by the time she scrambled up into a chair and even Starscream's pride had unbent enough that he was willing to request that Max lift her up.

The man was gentle as he lifted her and set her in the chair. Firmus served her a helping of stew. "Be careful the blow on it so you don't burn your mouth."

Starscream flicked his wings in annoyance at the instruction. Carnelian wasn't a baby anymore. She knew how to handle potentially hot food: He had taught her himself!

Firmus seemed to pick up on his mood. "I don't mean any offense, but sometimes it's good just to remind them."

"Carnelian remembers well." Starscream stiffly replied, then turned to help her crumble her bread the way she liked it.

Optimus sighed softly but kept quiet for now. Carnelian ate until full.

When she pushed back, Starscream looked up. "Done, darling?"

"Yes." Firmus took the bowl. "Well, we should probably get home," Max said. "What?" "We don't live here, we have an apartment. This is Lord Vader's personal palace." "Then... why we here?" Starscream asked, stiffening. "Because Lord Vader is my brother," Firmus answered.

Starscream's wings twitched uncomfortably. So. He'd been duped. Well, no one ever said he would go quietly into the abyss.

"He thought it best we meet on more neutral ground rather than our home."

"Probably a good idea." Optimus agreed cheerfully. "But Carnelian should really have gone to bed an hour ago, so... Let's get going, shall we?"

"Of course." Carnelian yawned and let Firmus gently pick her up, too tired to protest.

Starscream settled on her chest as they went and Optimus drove alongside.

The apartment was spacious and homey, and Firmus carried them into a bedroom not far from the master bedroom. "It's a little bare, but we can go shopping so she can decorate however she likes or choose how she wants to look at least," he said.

Starscream remembered a little dress he had been working on for her out of fleece scraps from a ragbag. "Will we be able to get any of her belongings from the other house?"

"I believe they'll be brought tomorrow."

"Good."

They settled in for bed, but Starscream couldn't sleep. Something kept him awake.

He sat up and looked over at Carnelian. She looked so peaceful.

She was holding Optimus like a teddy bear, and he was also asleep.

He stood up and walked over the pillow to her and smoothed back a lock of her hair. "You're mine." He murmured. "Always."

He crept out and listened at the door of the master bedroom. "-possessive." "Oh, Max, you would be too, and you know it."

"Yes, I would be. But I'm also taller than nine inches."

"Nine inches or six feet four inches, a parent is parent, love." "Well... now we're supposed to be her parents."

"That doesn't mean he loves her less."

"But we can't be fighting over who the parents are." "I know..."

On that, they were agreed, Starscream thought.  
"Look, I know you won't agree, but maybe - just maybe - they should both be... removed from the equation."  
Now that was a suggestion that he didn't like at all.

"Maximilian Veers! That is not an option and you know it!"

"No, I mean... just send them on vacation. I'm sure we could talk them into it. Optimus seems like the definition of a tired parent and he can probably handle Starscream. By the time they get back, things will be more settled."

"Then say 'maybe we should send them on a vacation' don't make it sound like getting rid of them." "I'm sorry, Fir. I wouldn't suggest that, I didn't mean for it sound that way."

"In any case, it's a discussion we should have in the morning and it should probably include our guests."

"You're right, and we don't have to send them off world. The cabin in the mountains would work. Peaceful, secluded with no one to poke around and bother them." "We'll bring it in the morning." A soft kiss. "Good night, Max."

"Good night, Firmus."  
Starscream slipped back down the corridors. No, he refused to go on vacation so they could brainwash his child into forgetting him. It wasn't happening. Not an option.

He fumed about it all night.

In the morning, he was up in arms, combing Carnelian's hair and getting her ready for the day before Max even knocked on the door. Even Optimus was surprised, since he usually waited until after breakfast to help Carnelian dress.

"Early start?"

"You could say that." Starscream agreed, wings tight.

"Well, Firmus plans to give her a bath, so you probably should have waited."

"She had a bath last night. She doesn't need one."

"We didn't know that. You don't have to snap. Come on, breakfast is ready."

"I didn't snap. Optimus knows what I sound like when I snap. That wasn't it."

Optimus just shrugged, and went out to breakfast. It was french toast, bacon, and eggs. Carnelian's food was already cut into pieces small enough for her, and a sippy cup of milk was at her spot as well. Max helped her into the chair only once she struggled.

Starscream and Optimus had a plate, but the Seeker only picked at his. It felt like a race he and the humans were engaged in: Who could read and help Carnelian first?

Firmus and Max were quick, he has to admit, and finally Carnelian was watching cartoons, leaving the adults to talk. "Optimus, Starscream, we were wondering if you guys would like a little vacation. It would be to our cabin in the mountains here on Coruscant."

"That sounds brilliant." Optimus said at the same time that Starscream spoke.  
"That's not a good idea."

"What? Why not, Starscream?"

"This is a very new situation for Carnelian. I'm not comfortable with leaving her."

Max sighed. "Starscream, that's the point. She needs to get comfortable with us."

"And this should exclude us, because...?"

"Because if you're always around she'll interact with you instead of you, and you seem intent on keeping us from taking care of her."

"Excuse me? She's my child. I'll take care of her if she needs something."

"Starscream, the point of all this was to get her somewhere safe with people who could take care of her," Optimus said.

"There's a difference... It's not... She's ours!"

"It's not what?" Firmus asked.

"Just because you're humans, it doesn't mean you can take care of her! There's more to all this than being over nine inches tall!" He said bitingly. "You don't know Carnelian, and she doesn't know you. What makes you think she'd trust you enough to be content if we were gone?"

"And if you're always here how will she learn to trust us when you won't let her?" Max shot back.

"We didn't know her either when we started," Optimus said.

"Who's side are you on?" Starscream snapped at him. And yes, it was very different than the tone Max had heard this morning.

"Carnelian's. This isn't about us or how we feel, Starscream, it's about her, and she needs to be able to trust Firmus and Max. That was the point of all this. Stop thinking about what YOU want for her and think about what she really NEEDS."

"..." Starscream gave them all a glare. "...Nobody asked any of you to do this. All we needed was to get her out of that house. Why can't we take care of her ourselves? I've been to University. In my time here, I've examined your technology and I could improve it more ways than I can count."

"We weren't asked, no, but WE asked to be able to take care of her. We're her legal guardians now, her caretakers and surrogate parents," Max said.

"Who decided that?" Starscream's wings flared at him. "She didn't need new parents. She has us. No beauracratic process can change that! In fact," he looked around. "If there's a datapad somewhere around here, there are laws on the books that would support my case. Especially as a member of a different culture, and with my education and earning potential. So I don't see a reason to honor your claim on her. I was going to allow it as a courtesy, but if I have to take this to court, I will. She's my daughter."

"Starscream!" "What?!"

"This is insane! You didn't even want to take care of her when we first arrived! You said it would be impossible!"  
"Things. Change."

"They need to change again. For HER sake. This was our goal from the start. What did you think would happen? We'd get out of the house and be allowed to go on our merry way with her even though no but Lord Vader knew we exsisted?"

Starscream bared his denteas. "Give me one reason they'd be better than us!"

"They took us ALL in, but YOU want to keep them away."

"That's not a reason! That's idiocy, Optimus!"

"They have an actual relationship with each other as well as wanting one with Carnelian. Being parents... that's key. You and I... what do we have?"

"I have a relationship with Carnelian! A pre-existing, strong relationship based on love! As for what we have? Nothing. We had a child, but I guess that's over. So we have nothing." And the Seeker stomped off.

"... Exactly," Optimus said softly but he still heard.

Starscream found Carnelian on the balcony. "...Hey, baby." He spoke softly and landed on her shoulder. "Can I talk to you?"

"Otay, Carry."

"...Things have been hard for you to understand today, haven't they? A lots going on."

"Yeah."

"And more things will go on before it's over." Starscream stared over the traffic lanes. "...You know, I'll always love you."  
Carnelian looked down at him with her big grey eyes. "Cawy and Car - knee - Lee - Ann. Aways."  
"That's right." Starscream smiled through the coolant in his optics. "But Carrier needs to get out of the way for awhile."

"Out way?" "Yeah. Creator and I are going to go someplace pretty for a little while so you can play with Max and Firmus and make friends with them. We'll come back and all be friends together. Does that sound nice?"

"...Don wan Cawy to weave. Or Cwea."

"I know you don't. I don't either, but... it has to be this way. For now. I'll come back. And Creator will be here. Firmus and Max are nice people. You'll like living here."

"You don't have to do it this way." They turned at Firmus voice.

Starscream shrugged, turning towards the city line. "...I did want to see what's beyond the horizon line. It may not have to be this way, but I don't have a strong enough spark to face it another way. Give Carrier a hug, baby." The Seeker held his arms to Carnelian.

She hugged him. "Please, stay and go to the cabin with Optimus. There's... something... between you two, something that could become a relationship, romantic or friendship I can't say, and I don't want it this way either. I want to be friends, Starscream, and work together, but we need the chance for her to trust us."

"...Funny thing. No one ever asked me what I needed, or wanted in all this mess. And it figures that you have to butt into this as well. You do that, don't you? Go where you're not wanted." And that was a bitter note. "Story of my life." He reached up to Carnelian's golden head and snagged the ribbon tying her hair back, pulling it loose. "It's not forever, baby." He whispered. "But for now, it's good-bye."

 

He flew off, and Firmus sighed, picking up Carnelian and rocking her as she cried.

"Cawy! Cawy come back!" She rushed to the balcony's edge and reached after him. "Cawy!"

"He'll come back, sweetheart." He carried her inside. "Did he really just-" "Max, don't. Not right now."

Carnelian sobbed as they held her on the sofa, looking around blearily. She began to struggle slightly. "Cwea! Cwea! I want Cwea!"

He held on. "Shh. He's busy, little gem." It wasn't easy. They all knew it wouldn't be.

"Don't weave me too, Cwea!"

"Carrier will come back, Carnelian. He promised, right?"

"Gwon ups don' keep pwomises!"

"Carnelian, is Carrier a good grown up?" "... Yes." "Good grown up keep their promises. Bad grown ups don't."

Carnelian thought about it, nodded, and sobbed again.

It was long and hard. Optimus kept mostly out of the way as Firmus and Max stepped into the parental roles. Slowly but surely Carnelian began to call for them or seek them out for something.

Starscream didn't come back. No one had any idea where he was or what he was doing and Optimus felt like he began to understand what the Seeker had gone through in twelve hours. He was going through the same thing now, but it had taken almost a year for it to fully catch up to him.  
As for Carnelian, she was fine. It was almost her fifth birthday. Her birthday and the first day of school were in the same week.

Optimus's only ease was the fact that he had bonded with Firmus and Max as well, and found himself almost viewing them as sparklings. Grown sparklings... but still sparklings as he would remind them of things they'd forgotten or helped Firmus around the kitchen. "Mama!" Firmus smiled. "Ready for school, gem?" Carnelian twirled in the dress Max had helped her put on. "Yes!"

"You're so pretty." Firmus kissed her nose. Her hair flowed free about her shoulders. Since Starscream had left, she hadn't let anyone else tie it back. "You'll have so much fun."

"Here's your lunch, sweetheart."

The doorbell rang. Max looked up. "Now who could that be? We'll get it on our way out, darling. Come on." Max took her hand.  
It was the mailman with a large box papered in soft purple with roses and a large bow. "Morning. Package for a special birthday girl!"

Max took the package from him, and set it down. "Open it quick, luv," Firmus said, coming from the kitchen with Optimus on his shoulder.

Carnelian pulled the bow open and destroyed the paper, shredding it with glee. The box slipped open and inside was a photo album on a tablet - Marked with a logo: CHR, a kitchen play set, and a package of hair ribbons.

She held up the tablet to Firmus to cycle through the images.

They were all shots of Carnelian or Carnelian and Optimus. They must have been downloaded from Starscream's own cortex.

"From... Carrier?" "I would think so. See? He's still watching you, gem."

Carnelian picked up the ribbons. "...This one." She pointed to a sky blue one and pulled it loose, handing it to Firmus.

He smiled and tied her hair back in a french braid. "There. My pretty girl."

Carnelian bounced out of the house with the tablet under her arm and her braid swinging.

Max chuckled and followed.

Firmus turned to where Optimus was bundling up paper into a waste bag.

"Well that's a good start to the morning."

"...Yeah. At least he's alive." Optimus shrugged. "...Don't take this the wrong way. I know you and Max are wonderful parents and I couldn't ask for better for Carnelian." He sighed. "But I wish I had been more supportive of Starscream."

Firmus picked him up. "That vacation is still open for you, you know, if you think you need some time to think."

"Heh. It's more a matter of too much time to think. Shoo. I'll finish this mess off."

"And where I am supposed to go, hmm?" he asked, nuzzling the convoy. He laughed. "Go take a bath or make yourself nice for when Max gets home."

"All right. He's testing the new CHR system today. Should be home early." Firmus kissed his helm.

"Good. Now shoo." "Yes, Dad," Firmus teased.

Optimus chuckled and pulled the wads of paper into the trash bag, finishing it off. "...Dammit, Starscream..." He sighed looking up at the trash can. "I wish you were here."  
Carnelian made friends - friends who went to an exclusive school. There were tests to get in, tests she couldn't quite pass. They were all upset when the rejection letter came back saying she was close, but no cigar.

Firmus, however, wouldn't let them stay down and whipped up a veritable feast of rich, homemade comfort food and sweets.

"...Why am I so stupid?" Carnelian questioned her adoptive "mother."

"Carnelian, look at me. You. Are. Not. Stupid. Baby, those schools are so strict on who they let it. It's very, very hard to get in. You did your best and came close, and I am so proud of you."

"...Okay." She stuffed herself on cream puffs. Her birthday approached quickly and she was almost ready to go to school when the doorbell rang.

Firmus opened the door.

It was their mailman with the customary package: Blue paper this year. "Carnelian, it's for you."

She hurried as Firmus signed off for the package.

Right on top of the usual gifts: A fluffy blue princess dress and a set of frosting tips with every shape possible, was a letter with the seal of the exclusive school she had been trying to get into.

"Mama, look!"

Firmus looked. "Oh, my... Well, that's so nice... I guess you'll be going with your friends after all."

He knew it was Starscream now for sure, and he wished the Seeker would come back.

Carnelian was ten and school had started. It was the first year the traditional package had missed her birthday.

She was understandably disappointed.

"Something's happened." She was insisting to Max. "We have to find Carrier. He'd never forget."

"We'll look into it, but later, sweetheart. You still have school." "But, Mom-" "No 'buts', Carnelian, but first, go into our room and get your present."

"...I don't want a present!" Carnelian was shaking now. "I want Carrier!"

"Carnelian, trust me, he's fine." "But-" "Go. Now." She huffed and stomped into her parents' bedroom.

They had bought her a book. She had been asking for it for weeks, and holding it felt nice, but at the same time...

 

"...Thanks." She said to Max. Optimus was watching from the counter. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. "I"LL GET IT!" She screamed and dropped the book, rushing to the door.  
The mailman wasn't there. There was a green box sitting on the stoop and standing beside it...

"Carrier!" He was snatched up and squeezed until he squeaked. "Carnelian, don't snap him in half, sweetheart," Firmus said with a little chuckle.

Starscream laughed, ignoring Firmus. "Hello, darling. I've missed you." Her hair ribbon - now a little bedraggled - had been tied around one wing.

"You sure took your time," Optimus said.

"I had business." Starscream's voice was cold when he addressed the Prime. "I didn't come back until I was sure I'd have a chance at getting back what's mine."

 

Firmus and Max stiffened. "What are you talking about?" Optimus asked.

"I want my daughter back." Starscream looked up at Carnelian. "How things were supposed to be."

"That's what this has been?"

"What? You thought somehow being apart from her for five years would make me want her back less?" Starscream looked up at Carnelian. "This is probably going to be ugly, dear. Let's get you to school, okay?"

"So you left her, telling her that she would like living here, all to get her back?" "Carnelian, put him down and lets go," Max said tightly.

"What choice did I have?" Starscream snarled. "You pushed me out! And you! I actually thought better of you." He snapped in Optimus's direction.

"This has never been about me, Starscream. I wanted what I thought was best for her." Max led Carnelian out to the speeder.

"We were her parents. We had a duty to her, and you wanted to give that up at the first possible moment!"

"Don't pull that! You didn't want her in the first place!"

"Things change." Starscream snarled. "And you let them take her from us - me - without even raising a word. I've racked my processor for a reason why, any reason, and the only thing I came up with is this: You're selfish, Optimus Prime. You're willing to go to the wire when there's no one else to do the job, but perfectly fine with looking back from the plow once someone else shows up!"

 

"I thought she'd have a better life and future with them!"

"You thought you could put down the torch! Because the going got hard and you stopped going! And then you had the audacity to push me out of this! Well, it didn't work. I've spent five years arranging this and you're not going to take her from me again!"

"Would you two stop?! I never wanted to take her from you, Starscream, I wanted to help with her. I never asked you to leave entirely, just for a chance for her to get to know and trust us," Firmus said.

"We didn't need your help! You tried to take her from me! I am her Carrier and I had a right to raise her, but here you are, 'Mama.'”

"SHE started calling me that. I never asked her to or suggested it, and I didn't let Max do it either. We used our names, and for a while so did she."

"She's been desperate to fit in with everyone." Starscream snapped. "She started calling you Mama and Papa because her classmates made fun of her."

"I know! It's why I didn't tell her to stop, seeing her so upset over the teasing. I'm not blind, and I have the same damn abilities as my brother, so I am REALLY not blind!

"The point being, what she calls you doesn't make her less mine, and I will not let you stand between us again."

Firmus crumpled. "Then just... go..."

"I will. Of course, there's a formality." Starscream reached into his subspace and pulled out a tiny datapad. "We need to be seen by a judge concerning the question. The court date and details are on here, as well as a waiver declining your argument to the case. I suggest you make this easy on all of us and sign it."

He signed it. "Now get out of my home."

"With pleasure." Starscream smirked. "I'll be back to pick her up this evening. Have a nice day."

He left, and Firmus sank to the floor slowly.

Optimus stared after Starscream in shock. He slid down to Firmus's side and cuddled into him.

Max come home and rushed to him. "Firmus?! What happened?" "He's taking her this evening."

"No, that's impossible! There are court dates and precedings, we both have to be screened by Social Services, and we have a right to a day in front of a judge..."

"I signed off." "Firmus..."

Max stood up and held his face. "No... No, this isn't happening. Get your brother on the comm. Fight this, Firmus! We have to fight this!"

"Max, please, stop. Fighting won't make this better, not for her. This is about Carnelian, not us. Please, we can't wrap her up in a custody battle."

"We can't lose her, Firmus! She's ours!" Max snapped.

"She was his first..."

Silence fell over all three of them as the words rang true. Optimus slipped from Firmus's side. "...I'm going to go talk to him... Try and make him see reason."

"Optimus-" "I have to try." He drove off as fast as he could.

CHR - a corporation that had risen up out of nowhere five years before and became a titan in no time - had recently set up an executive offices building in the business sector, so that was where Optimus went. It wasn't easy getting up to the Executive suite, but there was an advantage to being tiny.

He finally managed to slip in and found the Seeker. "Starscream." "I'm not giving her up, Prime."

Optimus climbed up onto the top of the desk the Seeker was sitting on top of with difficulty. He was working on a design pad - some new kind of engine by the look of it. "You can't take her from them, Starscream."  
"May I remind you that they struck first?" Starscream looked up only slightly from his work.

"That wasn't their intention, you made it that way."

"If it wasn't their intention, they wouldn't have been so eager to take care of her so much. I am her Carrier. I took care of her, and they had no right to butt in. ...You know why they wanted her, don't you?"

"Lets hear your thoughts on it."

"Firmus is barren." Starscream stated flatly. "And Vader handed them a child - a powerful one. I've spent five years navigating him and the Emperor. They don't do anything without a reason, and you can't trust any of them. They took an interest in Carnelian because she has abilities that can be used, but I won't let them." He punctuated the statement with a gesture around the room. "I've built all this to keep her safe. CHR systems run everything now. CKLA code is the favorite language of every new computer on the market. I did my work well. Even the Emperor can't touch her. Not anymore."

"I know about Firmus and not trusting Vader or the Emperor. Why do you think they kept her from them?"

"...May I remind you that the computer Firmus uses is a CHR system?" He hissed softly. "They're thick as thieves, those two. And you fell for it. I can't believe you, Optimus. You honestly thought they wanted to take in a traumatized and developmentally stunted little girl out of the goodness of their hearts? Do you remember the medicine she was "prescribed"?"

 

"Yes. What about it?"

"Vader ordered it altered." Starscream walked over to his desktop monitor and entered a password. "She got so strong, so much better, so quickly. Of course I was suspicious. It was a targeted steroid." He gestured up to the communiques he had pulled up. "And the people you were so ready to trust our child to? They knew." There was a transcript of communication between Vader and Max as well.

"...It won't hurt her." Vader's voice played back. "It will make her stronger. She'll get better."  
"I don't know, Vader. I don't like going behind Firmus's back like this."  
"You were prescribed these as a child, General, and you turned out just fine."  
"Firmus wouldn't like this."

"Tell me, Maximilian, is it in Carnelian's best interests to get well?"  
"...Yes."

"... He manipulated Max, and Firmus doesn't even know."

"So?" Starscream scoffed and tapped the screen back. "You or I would have seen through that metal monster at once. Well, I would have. I don't know about you."

"... You trusted him once."

"I trusted him to act in his own interests. I trusted him because I had no choice." Starscream tapped the screen. "But I verified. You went in blind, like always."

"So instead you wait five years, which could be argued as abandonment in court, let Max and Firmus get attached, then just do what you FELT they were doing to you? They wanted ALL of us to be a family, Starscream, but you just saw them taking Carnelian away."

"There you go again." Starscream turned away. "She called for you, didn't she? When I wasn't there, she wanted you. But you abandoned her. How could you ask me to live like that? To hear my daughter crying for me and not be allowed - or whatever you were doing - to go to her? Nobody asked me what I wanted, and no one cared what I needed. I had to leave - to fight another day. That's my way. Not capitulation, and on this issue, I will brook no compromise."

"I wanted her to be able to trust them."

"Hmph. That's all you have to say?" Starscream walked over to his design works. "Tell your 'friends' that if they want to have any part in her life, it's going to be on my terms."

"... Fine." The Prime drove off without another word.

Starscream came to the door with a Fetch and Carry droid: One of his own design, from a line called CT.

Carnelian's things were packed, and Firmus hugged her, fighting back tears.

Starscream waited outside while they said their good-byes, the fetch and carry taking her bags down to his modified speeder- From the CDC line.

They watched from the door as the speeder took off.

Carnelian waved back at them, then turned and sat down in the seat.

 

Firmus collapsed against Max once they were out of sight.

Max hugged him close. "Oh, Firmus..."

Optimus watched, feeling conflicted and knowing what he knew now about Vader's manipulation of Max he had no idea what to say or do.

He drew close to them and gently hugged Firmus's ankle.

He was picked up and cuddled. Carnelian loved being back with Starscream again, but she did miss Optimus, Firmus, and Max. Optimus was Creator, after all, and Firmus and Max had been so nice.

Carrier had created an apartment that was something of a mirror image of her old home, minus the people she loved so much. "I know things are different right now." He sighed when Carnelian brought them up. "Just give me some time." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "To have you for mine."

"... Okay..."

Starscream was an excellent Carrier. He always drove her to school and was there at every one of her events. In the evening, he never mentioned his work - unless he was bringing home a new trinket or puzzle that he had designed for Carnelian.

She loved it, and him, but she had also come to love Firmus and Max and still very much missed Optimus.

One day, Starscream was settled on her shoulder and looked at her face as she stared off at the tower where she had used to live. "Oh, come on, let's go visit them. What harm can it do?"

She perked up and eagerly rushed to put on her shoes.

Starscream laughed sadly, softly. So, they won in the end. Story of his life.

Max stared for a moment when he opened the door then hugged Carnelian. "Daddy!" "Oh, Carnelian. Hello, sweetheart. Firmus will be happy to see you, and it'll make him feel better." "Sick?" "Sort of, allergies, so his nose is all stuffy and he's talkin' funny."

Carnelian giggled and bounced through. Starscream flew in after her. "Maximillian."

"Starscream." Firmus let out a shout of surprise.

"Annnd she jumped on him," Max said with a sigh.

Carnelian had indeed jumped onto Firmus, though she had been aiming for his arms.

He was now hugging her happily."

Starscream settled on a counter and watched, a pillar of misery and quiet despair behind an impassive mask.

Firmus came and kissed his helm suddenly. "Thank you for bringing her to see us."

"She wasn't happy without you. I knew she wouldn't be, but you never think of these details beforehand."

 

"It's what makes us all imperfect," the man said in understanding.

"Do not think that because I brought her to see you that we are friends. Old scars run deep." Starscream stated savagely. "And do not presume that simply because I am smaller than you that I do not desire agency of my frame: Do not kiss me again."

"I'm sorry, I just acted on how grateful I was."

"I didn't do it for you."

"I know."

Starscream nodded. "So long as we are on the same page."

Optimus emerged from what used to be Carnelian's bedroom. "Creator!"

Optimus laughed and raised his arms to her. "Carnelian!"

She snatched him up and cuddled him. "I missed you, sweetie."

"Carrier brought me to visit!" She showed him her new wristwatch. "Look what he gave me!"

"Very pretty. Did you say thank you?" "Yes." "Good."

"It takes pictures!" She gave Optimus a run-down of the features of the newest line of smartwatches, the CCH line.

He listened attentively, smiling.

"...And my room is exactly the same!" At some point, she had gone from talking about the watch to her new home. "I'm so glad Carrier's back. I missed him for so long, but... Now I miss you guys. I wish we could all be together, but whenever I say that, Carrier gets sad. ...Why does that make him sad?"

"That's... hard to explain, sweetie." "Why?"

"Because it was a long time ago, and things seemed so clear at the time - the choice was so easy. But then I had to live with it."

They turned at his sudden entry into the conversation. "I love you all, Carrier. Why can't we all be a big family?"

"We could have been. I suppose we should have been. But, as usual, I couldn't explain and no one bothered to listen. Things are as they are. We can't go back. None of us."

 

"That was my intention, and when you can't explain it's hard to listen," Firmus said.

"No, that wasn't your intention. If it was, you wouldn't have taken charge - treated my claim to her as if it was nothing."

"I overstepped, I know, it was the first day, I wanted to make a good impression and show I could take care of her when needed. I waited a long time for the chance. Adoption agencies aren't exactly jumping to give two active military men the chance to have a child, and when we moved to reserves and then I retired they still found every excuse to delay and delay and delay until it was obvious that their 'soon' was really 'never'."

"And you." Starscream turned on Max. "A 'vacation'" The contempt in his voice could freeze a sun. "As if I would ever willingly leave my child in the hands of strangers."

"Guess you also never heard of daycare and babysitters," he muttered. "Max."

"As I recall, daycares are held to a careful account of how children are treated and babysitters are close and trusted family friends." Starscream turned on Optimus and his contempt turned into disappointment. "And then there's you."

"Don't you've already made your thoughts on me clear, so don't even start."

Starscream's optics bored holes into him and then he shook his helm. "She doesn't need to know what you did, but I do. Come on, Carnelian. We need to go home."

"Already?" she pouted.

"Yes. Come, darling." Starscream beckoned her.

She looked up at Firmus and Max, then at Optimus, and finally back at him and shook her head.

"Carnelian, I'm your Carrier. Please, come home with me." Starscream's optics filled with coolant.

"It's not home. Home's here... with everyone."

"..." His expression said everything.

Firmus knelt beside her. "Carnelian, listen to Carrier. Maybe you can visit again, but you have to be good. Only good girls get to visit."

"I don't want to be good! I want to be with you! I want us all to be together!"

"I know, sweetheart, but that... just isn't possible." "Why?!"

Starscream shook his helm. "...Some things just aren't, Carnelian. You can't apologize for some hurts and resentment never really goes away."

The former Admiral picked her up. "Come on." "No! No!"

The Seeker held up a servo to stop him. "No. Five years and I still can't stand to see her unhappy... It's a victory, savor it."

Firmus sighed and set her back down.

The Seeker and the family stared each other down. He looked down at his wrist, where he had never untied her ribbon. Then, he pulled it loose. "Good-bye, darling." Turning, he looked pointedly at Max. "I will be watching. Very, very closely. Don't keep secrets, and don't let anyone use her as a science experiment."

He blanched. "Don't stay away all the time," Firmus countered, "Visit, take her out to do things, join us for dinner, things beside presents through the mail."

"I am still her legal guardian. I have no intention of leaving her with you all a second time. Look what happened when I did." He jutted out a servo, gesturing.

He left, and Carnelian blossomed. Max came clean to Firmus, who was of course angry with his husband, but that was nothing with his FURIOUS he was with his brother. Vader was left with a helmet broken in pieces, ripped suit, a shattered lightsaber, missing his left leg and right hand... again, and a very, VERY wounded pride and new, grudging, respect for his brother. Starscream was around regularly spending time with Carnelian.

Whenever she called out for "Mama!" or "Papa!" though and when she ran into their arms after kissing him good night, dark clouds passed behind his optics. He stopped using acronyms for his product names and was more distant than he had been before. Some times, when he visited at the apartment for dinner - especially on the anniversary of that day, he smelled like alcohol and stared into space.

Firmus expressed worry for the Seeker which he brushed off until at last, when Carnelian was fourteen years old, Firmus threatened to take him to court for legal guardianship, if only to snap him out of this self-destructive behavior, adding that Carnelian was continually asking why he smelled so bad or acted strange. The former Captain had been furious when the Seeker had actually arrived a few times still slightly drunk. So now he gave the ultimatum, clean up or he'd fight for guardianship.

Starscream waved it off tiredly. "You can have guardianship."

Firmus growled and snatched him up. "Then clean up or don't come around again until you're sober and don't reek of alcohol."

"...I'd like to see you do any better than I am. My own child prefers another to me. I hope you never have to feel that." He hung limply from his hand.

He sighed. "Come on, you're staying here."

"I was driven by a droid. I can make it home."

"That's not the point. You need her, she needs you, but she needs you WELL. Obviously alone you'll drink yourself to death."

"...The only reason I haven't is that I'm just spiteful enough not to." Starscream muttered.

"Good. I never wanted to be against you, Starscream, I wanted to be your friend, it just got all jumbled in my excitement, Max's stubbornness, and it all just snowballed."

"It's not you that hurt the worst. I expected nothing else from your kind."

"Optimus. He's... Optimus. Knows he needs to apologize but has no idea how. So he's said... many times to me." He filled the bathroom sink with hot water and slid Starscream into it gently. "Carnelian's pretty happy with having two sets of parents, though. I never meant to make it seem like I wanted to replace you, though, and I'm sorry it came across that way."

"Don't bother. It's easy to say sorry when you hold all the cards. Carnelian loves you, and I'm secondary. Maybe it's my own damn fault. I accept your apology. Now let me waste away in peace and don't mention it to me again."

"Nice try. I'm not the kind of person to let you waste away. You should have tried that with my damn brother."

"...I don't like you. You don't act like a normal person. At least I can understand your brother and the Emperor, but I have no idea what makes you tick."

"What do you mean I don't act like a normal person?"

"You don't get angry and you don't have rivals. You stick your nose into places it shouldn't go and no one seems to mind. You're doing it now, and the funny thing is, I don't mind. Maybe I would, if you were trying to drive a wedge between my daughter and me, but you're not. You make stupidly empty threats and don't seem to understand how much power you or anyone else wields, yet you still come out on top, time and again."

"I don't look at all that. I just want to try to do what's right and fix what I've done wrong. I don't care what people think of me, what matters is the opinions of those I love. I want to help you, Starscream. I never wanted to drive you away, and I certainly don't now. So lets fix this instead. Wallowing in self-pity? Done that. What did it get me? Big fat nothing."

"Isn't that rather the point of wallowing?" Starscream cocked an optical ridge. "...And things were going so well... For the first time in my life, I wasn't constantly losing..."

"You haven't totally lost. Really you've just gained a partner. Carnelian loves us all, and I like the rare moments we work together on something."

"I never wanted a partner. I just wanted to raise my daughter in peace... with someone who I thought wanted the same thing. My life has been a series of circumstances forced upon me where I have had no chance of winning. I don't expect you to understand, but don't ask me to like it. You can't ask that of me as well."

"I don't. I just ask you be more put together for her sake and your own."

"...I can drink in the morning just as well as the evening, I suppose."

Firmus sighed. "Baby steps." "Whatever floats your boat."

It wasn't instantaneous, but Starscream certainly began to come in looking and acting a little better. He was still despondent occasionally and there had been the time Carnelian had asked Firmus to comb her hair and he broke out crying and ran from the room, but other than that, he spent time with Carnelian and helped her to grow as best he could - he still brought her gadgets, but they were fewer and farther between. CHR continued to grow, but Starscream bowed to the pressure of his investors and changed the name to Star Technologies.

Firmus kept up his gentle pressures, keeping the Seeker on track with his giving up his drinking and straighten himself out again. Max had hunkered down and apologized, and Optimus had finally apologized as well. Things were still tense between them sometimes, but for the most part they could now actually hold a conversation without it turning ugly.

Which was why Optimus had the courage to go and look for him when he didn't come to visit on the day the changes in his Company were announced.

He found the Seeker in his office, holding his helm. "Starscream?"

"Optimus. What is it now?" The Seeker looked up, faceplates drawn and care-worn.

"You didn't visit. We've been worried about you."

"...I've been having a quiet relapse, if you didn't notice." He looked over at a miniature bottle of some kind of alcohol. It was three-quarters empty. "So no, I didn't visit."

He sighed. "You were doing so well. What happened?"

Starscream pushed his datapad towards him, open to the announcement of the company name change, right above the stock analysis.

"Star Technologies. It's a fitting name. I like it better than CHR personally. You're the one who built the company, after all."

"It wasn't named for me. It wasn't supposed to be." Starscream's helm hit the table with a thunk. "I thought you at least would have seen the pattern."

"I do, and while the original was sweet, I think it's mort fitting it be named for you. It's your company, your efforts created all this."

"...I wouldn't have made the effort if it weren't for her." Starscream quietly turned around a picture frame on his desk. It was a pair of images - one he had shared with the Seeker and the other one from Starscream's cortex. There was Carnelian stretching up with Optimus - her hair freshly neatened - and the second was Starscream reading to her from a pilfered book.

"I know, but think of this way; your company reached for the stars in terms of techonolgy, and it paid off. Let the name be for that then, if not for you. Besides, she was your guiding star."

"...You have a point." Starscream sighed and sat back, triggering a switch accidentally. The holographic displays of all of his companies' best products - the ones with a "C" beginning their acronyms - changed to hand drawn designs of the same things, but with someone - a little girl who slowly grew into a young woman - using them. The acronyms expanded as well from random mixes of letters to words that made more sense. "Oh, Primus." The Seeker began batting for the switch.

 

"...Leave it." Optimus looked up and around. "...Oh, Primus, Stars..." "CKLA" coding had become "Car-Knee-Lee-Anne." "CDC Sportspeeder" had become "Carnelian's Doll Car." Right in the center of it all, the logo of CHR Technologies was a long ribbon wrapped around the letters "Carnelian's Hair Ribbon." And then it changed again. A whole other line of products, never released as far as Optimus knew, featuring himself.

"Is that... me? Why? I thought you-"

"...I never hated you." Starscream found the switch and pushed it, returning the displays to normal. "But you doubted me. My capabilities as a Carrier, provider, protector..."

"I didn't mean to, but it's hard not to in the situation we were in."

"It still hurt." Starscream gritted his denteas. "It hurt worse than anything anyone else ever did. Every beating Megatron ever threw at me, everytime one of my trinemates hesitated to follow me... Nothing compared to that." He looked up at the old logo on his wall. "...Except for losing her."

"She still loves you and needs you in her life."

"No. She might still love me, but she doesn't need me. Not anymore."

"She needs your love, always will, no matter how old she gets."

"Then she'll always have everything she needs. I promised her that... a long time ago. You can go now. I'm tired. I don't want to have this conversation."

"No." Optimus walked around the desk and pulled Starscream's chair back.

"Optimus, what are you doing?!"

"I'm not saying I doubt you, but I don't think you can walk with several teaspoons of whiskey in your lines."

"I wasn't planning of leaving." "All night? Sometimes you're just crazy, Starscream. Come on."

"Ugh... Fine..." Starscream tried to stand up and ended up pitching forward when the room swayed like a boat.

Optimus caught him and picked him up. He carried the Seeker off with minimal struggle.

Ever since Carnelian had returned to their home, Starscream had changed the apartment to suit his own tastes... and size. It had been turned into a Seeker paradise, complete with a greenhouse and an indoor pool styled after a waterfall. Starscream directed Optimus to a climbing surface that led up to a pagoda where the Seeker made his berth.

 

He helped Starscream to his berth and kept watch as he recharged.

"...You're still here." Starscream spoke when his bleary optics fell on the Prime.

"I never left."

"...Why?"

"I care about you, Starscream, deeply, even if I ruined any chance, I still care."

"...Ugh. You would say something like that." Starscream pushed himself up with effort and flopped his face into the Convoy's lap. "...Sometimes you say too much."

He chuckled. "And sometimes you're positively clumsy. What a faceplant. Bravo."

"Shut up. I have a hangover."

"I bet. I made you some tea to help with that if you want it."

"...Thank you." He drank his tea and began to look something like himself. "Primus, you let me go to sleep with makeup on... Now it's all smeared."

"I didn't have a choice. You passed out a foot through the door."

"Excuses, excuses." The Seeker dove off of the pagoda's edge and splashed down in the pool. "Join me for a swim and breakfast?"

"If you insist," he said with a smile.

They spent the day together, for once just getting to know each other. Then, they went to Firmus and Max's apartment in the afternoon, when Carnelian would be getting out of school. "...I'm thinking of upgrading to a limo." Starscream commented as the sportspeeder hummed along with them in the backseat.

"A limo? Why?"

"No reason. Always wanted one. I liked to imagine the look on my professor's faces if I suddenly showed up to University being driven in one."

Optimus chuckled. "Well it's up to you."

"You don't think it would be too silly?"

 

"Maybe if it was your ONLY speeder it would be."

"Hmm. Maybe I could start a collection. I need a hobby of some sort."

"That'd be a interesting hobby for sure."

They stepped through the front door when Max opened it up still discussing it.

As Carnelian scooped them both up in a hug, and even Max expressed relief over seeing Starscream all right the Seeker felt like maybe, just maybe... everything WOULD be all right in end.


End file.
